


Call Me, Maybe

by Jsq86



Series: Call Me Maybe [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Fate, M/M, Malec, One Shot, Sort Of, Texting, meet cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-29
Updated: 2019-11-29
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:07:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21601942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jsq86/pseuds/Jsq86
Summary: Magnus is having a bad day, and needs to drown his sorrows in alcohol, but accidentally texts the wrong number to accompany him. It makes for a not-so-bad day.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: Call Me Maybe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1603399
Comments: 19
Kudos: 262
Collections: Favorite Malec Stories





	Call Me, Maybe

**Author's Note:**

> A prompt I found on tumblr many many months ago (I don’t remember who posted it, unfortunately) that I finally finished. Yay me. 
> 
> Dedicated to two awesome tumblr mutuals who cheered me on to complete it 🖤

The noise in the cafe was particularly loud that day but Magnus couldn’t hear any of it over the sound of his own blood rushing in his ears.Camille was breaking up with him. 

_Camille_

Was breaking up

With _him_

He was having trouble wrapping his head around it and thought for a moment that he might be sick before he was pulled from his own morbid thoughts. 

“Magnus? Magnus!”

Magnus shook his head and looked at Camille. 

“Are you listening to me?” Camille asked, clearly annoyed that Magnus had spaced out.Is _that_ why she was breaking up with him? Because sometimes he was spacey?

“No, I’m breaking up with you because you’re too clingy,” she said, and Magnus realized he must’ve said what he’d been thinking out loud.His mouth gaped open at the insinuation that _he_ was too clingy.Though now that he thought about it, Camille had always been aloof around him.Magnus didn’t even try to argue and just ran a hand through his dark hair in frustration. 

“Anything else you’d like to get off your chest while we’re here?” he asked bitterly and crossed his arms in front of him.Camille’s features softened. 

“I’m not trying to hurt you,” she said, and Magnus found that hard to believe.She reached across the table, her hand flat on the smooth surface. If Magnus’s own hand had been there, he guessed she would’ve taken it, but he wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction.“Take care of yourself,” she added and moved to stand up.Magnus turned his head to the window next to their table; he could feel the familiar sting in his eyes, hating that he was getting so emotional, and he didn’t want her to see.He couldn’t stand feeling vulnerable around people, especially people who had just stomped on his heart with seven-inch Louboutins in the middle of a crowded cafe.He heard her heels clacking on the tile floor and then the door open and close.He watched her through the window as she hailed a cab in record time and then continued to watch as it pulled away.His unshed tears sat pooled in his eyes and when he finally closed them they rolled, unforgiving, down his cheeks, but he made no move to brush them away.Instead, he stood up and left. 

\--

Magnus was wondering if he’d royally pissed someone off in a past life, or in the past few days in a drunken stupor, because someone had to have cursed him, or this was just the worst day of his life so far.It hadn’t been enough that Camille had broken up with him not even an hour ago, but his phone had decided to jump ship as well.That’ll teach him to leave it sitting in his lap to fall to the ground as he climbed out of a cab.He knew he should never have stopped carrying a bag. 

“Fuuuck,” he groaned to the sky, then sneered as a lady with a small child passed him, giving him a dirty look. He bent down and picked the phone up off the ground, the screen a spiderweb of shattered glass, and he tried to determine whether or not it was worth salvaging, but no.Tiny pieces of glass fell off onto the sidewalk, and he didn’t want to risk cutting his hand; at the very least, the screen would have to be replaced.And with the price of that, he may as well just get a whole new phone.He was pretty sure he was due for an upgrade anyway. 

To Magnus’s surprise, the universe was on his side at the moment, because he happened to live fairly close to an Apple store.It was still early enough in the day that the store wasn’t overrun by loitering teenagers yet.His luck was still looking up when he was able to get his phone in immediately and not have to wait for an appointment, so he willingly handed it over to Apple employee Jeff who promptly took it to the back to switch it for a newer model.Magnus opted for purple this time.Purple was a good color on him.

As he waited, he walked around the tables, playing with the different iPads and MacBooks.Several minutes later, Apple employee Jeff came back to the sales floor with a small box in one hand, and Magnus’s new purple iPhone in the other.

“Great,” Magnus beamed as he took the phone eagerly and began messing with it.“I believe I was due for an upgrade, so there’s no charge, right?”

Apple employee Jeff fidgeted and shook his head. “Erm, no.But there’s kind of a little snag, unfortunately, sir.”

Magnus looked from his shiny new phone to Jeff.“A snag?”

“You see, sir, when I was trying to replace your sim card, I may have accidentally dropped it on the ground, and then I may have accidentally stepped on it.”

The horrified look Magnus was giving Jeff was starting to make him uncomfortable.“Um, sir? Really, the only things that won’t transfer are your contacts.Everything else is in the Cloud, though.”

Magnus slumped. He supposed that was good news, but fuck if he actually knew anyone’s numbers.“It’s fine,” he sighed, and began getting his new phone up and running as he turned to leave. 

“Give us a good review on yelp!” Jeff called after him, and Magnus scoffed.He should’ve known getting a new phone wouldn’t have been so easy, considering the day he was having.It really was the shittiest day. *Calm down, Bane* he thought. *There are homeless people who don’t even have phones.* Still, he felt like a good stiff drink.Drowning his sorrows in alcohol always made him feel better...well, until it made him feel worse. Opening the messages app, he typed what he hoped was his friend Ragnor’s number, since he couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually dialed it, and swiped a quick message. 

**Can we meet up? I just got dumped and I want to drink until my body is made of 60% gin instead of water.**

He walked slowly to his apartment, messing around with the new phone’s features, until a message dropped down from the top of the screen, so he swiped it open.

_I think you have the wrong number. But that doesn’t sound like a great plan. Gin tastes horrible. Sorry about you getting dumped. Have a nice day._

Magnus felt his skin heat up from embarrassment.He hated when he accidentally texted wrong numbers.He thought about just leaving it be, but didn’t want the stranger to think he was some kind of idiot.

**Sorry about that**

**New phone and lost all my contacts**

**All in working order now though**

**I thought I was texting a friend.Not sure where your number came from**

Magnus wasn’t sure what had prompted him to continue texting the unknown number.He was sure whoever it was wouldn’t have cared if Magnus hadn’t replied back.

_No worries._

Magnus smiled to himself.He was seriously tempted to ask this mystery person to join him for a drink despite not knowing anything about them.Now that he thought about it, Ragnor’s company just didn’t sound appealing to him at the moment.The man could be so judgmental, he’d never really liked Camille, and Magnus wasn’t in the mood for I-told-you-so’s just yet. 

Fuck it. He would text them. If it was a serial killer or something, at least he could say he tried. 

**So what do you say? Drinks? I’m buying**

Magnus felt his heart speed up, nervous that the mystery person might actually say no.He’d stopped walking, much to the chagrin of the people walking behind him, and stared at the screen, as if that would make the response come faster.To his surprise, he saw the those familiar three dots appear. 

_Seriously?_

Magnus’s face fell.

**No?**

He was at his building now and waited till he was inside and on the elevator before he checked his phone again. 

_Well…I don’t even know you_

_You could be a serial killer or something_

Magnus chuckled. **I assure you i’m not** and he had to resist inserting a winking emoji.

_That’s just the thing a serial killer would say…_

He audibly laughed out loud, glad no one else was in the elevator with him, and this time did send a laughing emoji.

_Look, you seem nice, but I can’t tonight (and i’m not just saying that because I still don’t know who you are)._

**Got a hot date? ;)**

_Lol ah no. I’m actually watching my kid brother while my family is out_

**How very noble**

Magnus walked into his apartment and fell down on his couch, propping his feet up on the coffee table. He was starting to wonder just how old this person was.They certainly sounded old enough to Magnus.He heard a tinkling of metal and turned to see his cat, Chairman Meow, jumping up on the couch next to him.He scratched behind the cat’s ears as another message came through. 

_I am sorry I couldn’t help you drown your misery in alcohol tonight_

_Want to talk about it? I’m pretty bored._

Magnus took him up on that offer, after promptly making himself a drink, and without going into too much detail about Camille.For the next several hours, they texted back and forth and he finally learned whom he was talking to.The boy’s name was Alec, was only a year younger than Magnus himself, and had a big family, compared to Magnus, anyway, who didn’t really have a family at all, just very close friends he thought of as family.Alec seemed to be the only one that got roped into babysitting, on account of never having anything to do on a weeknight.

He tried to get Alec to send him a picture of himself, but the boy seemed like he wasn’t as into selfies as Magnus was, though he did learn that Alec had black hair and blue eyes, Magnus’s favorite combination.He sent Alec one of himself anyway, using an outrageous filter just to make him laugh, and with just enough of his face obscured to leave a little mystery.

He thought to himself how much better this was than a dating app and that he might try plugging in random phone numbers the next time he was in need of a booty call, and then immediately thought better of it. He wasn’t _that_ desperate. He seriously couldn’t comprehend his luck, though, and secretly thanked Camille for dumping him.If she hadn’t, he never would’ve messaged what seemed to be a sweet, shy boy that he otherwise would not have met. And even though he was still upset about Camille, they had been on shaky ground the last few weeks, and the breakup had been inevitable. Magnus had just assumed he would’ve been the one to do the breaking up. But talking to Alec had made him feel much better about being dumped. 

Alec seemed to have liked Magnus’s selfie because he sent back a blushing emoji, andMagnus felt himself blush as well, which hardly ever happened, and he silently gave Alec props for being able to do it without even really trying.He felt his eyes drooping suddenly and sent another quick text before he fell asleep on the couch and his roommate Raphael waltzed in and saw him like that.

**I have a feeling I may inadvertently pass out on you so I must unfortunately bid you goodnight.**

**But you still owe me a drink ;)**

**Are you free tomorrow?**

Magnus held his breath, then decided to take himself to bed before he did fall asleep on the couch. After changing and finishing his nightly routine, he climbed into bed and checked his phone again. It seemed to be taking Alec longer than normal to respond to Magnus’s offer and he suddenly wondered if he’d overstepped his boundaries.His breath whooshed out when he finally got a response.

_Yeah I think that would be all right._

_When and where?_

Lord help Magnus. He hadn’t even technically met this guy yet and he was already taking Magnus’s breath away.

He quickly sent Alec details for the location of a bar he frequented and the time before his eyes closed of their own accord.He woke up the next morning to a thumbs up emoji sent right after Magnus had fallen asleep, and he smiled to himself.He knew his date was several hours away, but he was still excited to meet this Alec.He sounded genuine and nice, not at all like the people Magnus was used to dating.Jumping up, he decided there was no time like the present to start getting ready, and soon his bed was covered in several different shirts and pants in varying shades of colors and patterns. 

This was essentially a blind date and Magnus didn’t want to scare Alec off by making the wrong impression with the wrong outfit.As he was debating between two different tops, he heard the front door open and close, which meant Raphael was home. He kept odd hours, sometimes going days without Magnus seeing him.Magnus wasn’t sure what he did all the time, but whatever it was didn’t interfere with Magnus, so he didn’t ask questions. 

“Raphe! Raaaaphe! Come here, my darling!” he called, cupping his hands around his mouth. 

Raphael slid into the doorway of Magnus’s room a few seconds later. 

“How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?” he grumbled. 

“What? Raphe, or darling?” Magnus asked innocently. 

“Both.”

“I believe we’re up to 57 times. Anyway, I need help picking an outfit for tonight. I have a date.Which do you prefer? The blue or the red?” Magnus said and held up two shirts in front of him, and he peered down at them. 

“You have a date? Oh that’s right, I’d heard about you and Camille,” Raphael said, and leaned against the door frame.“You certainly move on quickly.”

Magnus’s head snapped up.“Where did _you_ hear about it? We’ve been broken up for less than a day.”

“And yet you already have a date. Interesting.” Raphael inspected his nails, then shrugged and smirked.“Anyway, I have my sources,” he added, which brought an eye roll from Magnus.

“You know what? If you’re not going to help, then get out,” Magnus said and pointed toward the door. 

“Gladly,” Raphael replied without preamble, and left.Magnus jeered after him and stuck his tongue out, then went back to his outfit. 

\--

Several hours later, Magnus was waiting anxiously on his couch for the minute he would leave to meet Alec.He couldn’t believe how nervous he was.His leg bounced up and down rhythmically, and he’d checked his phone eight times in five minutes.He supposed he could leave now; it wouldn’t hurt to be early.He stood up, then jumped as his phone vibrated in his hand.Looking down, he saw it was a text from Alec.

_Magnus I am so sorry, but something came up and I won’t be able to make it tonight :(_

Magnus fell back onto the couch and looked at his phone in dejection.He knew this date was too good to be true.

**No worries, darling :)**

**maybe another night**

He clicked off his phone and fell sideways onto the couch.He’d been so excited to meet Alec. And he’d picked out the perfect outfit too.And while he didn’t want his mind to wander, he immediately thought of the worst case scenario: that this Alec had just been humoring him and had planned all along to call it off so he wouldn’t hurt Magnus’s feelings, and now he was having a good laugh with his buddies.He probably wasn’t even how he described himself, and was instead a big, beefy, blonde straight guy ready to beat Magnus up the second they met.

Well, if that were the case, then he wound’t have called off the date…

Jesus, he really needed to get a grip.

Maybe Camille was right. Maybe he was too clingy.He didn’t even know Alec and had immediately asked him out. He chided himself for his brain going down the self-deprecating road, but it wasn’t as if he was wrong.Before he could mentally kick himself anymore, his phone vibrated again and he reluctantly looked at it.

_Maybe we can try again tomorrow?_

He smiled then.If Alec wanted to make plans for the next day, then perhaps it wasn’t a total loss.He wouldn’t even be bothering if he didn’t actually want to meet up. Magnus agreed, and they decided on the same time and place. 

_I’m going to be busy for a few hours_

_But could i maybe text you when i’m free tonight?_

Magnus’s heart fluttered in his chest.“Yes of course you can text me when you’re free!” he shouted at the phone, before realizing he wasn’t actually talking to Alec.He took a couple of calming breaths, then messaged back that he would be delighted to continue their conversation when Alec was free.

Then groaned when he realized he’d actually used the word ‘delighted.’

Since it was still relatively early, and since he was still wallowing about not actually getting to meet Alec, Magnus decided that he’d endured enough torment, and promptly took a nap, his phone resting on his stomach so he would feel it when Alec finally texted him again.

—-

The phone on Magnus’s stomach vibrated with a new text and he jolted awake, nearly falling off the couch in the process.Chairman Meow, who’d been sleeping under one of Magnus’s bent knees, shot off the couch and into the bedroom.Magnus rolled his eyes at the cat’s theatrics, then steeled himself to open the new message.He hoped Alec appreciated how worked up Magnus was getting over him, because he was never like this…or was he? He certainly couldn’t recall a time when he’d been this excited to meet someone.

The phone vibrated again and he fumbled it before clicking it open. 

_Hey :)_

Lord have mercy, this boy and his messages!

**Hello :)**

“Nice,” Magnus smiled. 

They texted back and forth easily; Alec didn’t explain why he’d been busy, but Magnus didn’t want to pry.Suddenly he had an idea, hoping Alec would say yes, since it was too late now to leave and meet up somewhere. 

**Here’s a thought**

**What if we FT?**

He watched as the three dots appeared and disappeared several times, and he knew Alec was mulling over the idea of Face Timing. 

_I don’t know…_

**What?**

**You’re not horribly disfigured or something, r u? ;)**

**Because if you are, then I might need to take a raincheck on the date tomorrow…**

**Jk jk**

_Lol_

_It’s not that_

_I’m just kind of…awkward when it comes to cameras_

_Sorry :(_

Magnus was definitely regretting bringing up the Face Time question, especially since it made Alec apologize for being self-conscious.Alec had sent him another message before Magnus could reassure him it was all right.

_But u could call me maybe_

_If that’s ok_

_Only if u want to tho_

_No pressure_

Magnus was pretty sure his heart stopped; sure, it was no Face Time call, but just the thought of getting to hear Alec’s voice sent shivers down his spine.

“All right, get a grip, Magnus,” he said to himself. “You barely know this guy. It’s just a phone call.” He took a deep breath and typed ‘sure’ and sent it, then hovered his thumb over the audio button, mentally prepping himself. He wasn’t sure why he was so anxious - he’d talked to dozens of strangers on the phone. Finally, his thumb tapped the audio button before he could talk himself out if. It rang a few times, and Magnus held his breath.

“Magnus?” came the voice from the other end, and oh, it was angelic, and it elated him, hearing Alec say his name.And though Magnus couldn’t see him, he was sure Alec was smiling, and he smiled too.

“Alexander, hi,” he breathed out, not sure why he’d suddenly opted to use Alec’s full name.But ok, two words.Very articulate.

“Sorry, I hope this is okay,” Alec said, and every time Alec apologized, Magnus’s heart broke a little more. 

“Of course it’s okay, Alec.I only hope I didn’t overstep my boundaries by suggesting we Face Time.”

“No, no, of course not.I just…worry that once you see me…you won’t want to meet me in person.”

“Well goodness, Alexander, you can’t be that bad looking,” Magnus chuckled, and Alec laughed lightly on the other end.

“No! I—I don’t think so, anyway. I’m just…ordinary,” Alec said, and Magnus could almost imagine him shrugging on the other end, but he didn’t find Alec ordinary at all, otherwise he wouldn’t have continued messaging him, wouldn’t have agreed to talk to him.

“And you sound so…” Alec continued, but struggled to find the right word.

“ _Extra_ ordinary?” Magnus helped him out. 

Alec laughed again. “Ok, sure.” 

Magnus quickly put the call on speaker, then switched to his headphones so that he could lay down on the couch. 

“Alexander,” he said gently, “I can tell you’re anything but ordinary. And I can assure you that I am very eager to meet you, and that it has nothing to do with what I think you’ll look like.And I don’t regret accidentally texting you.I’ve only done the whole dating app thing a handful of times, but I’ve never been this head over heels for someone before….and that made me sound really lame, sorry,” Magnus said, and silently banged his head on the couch cushion, wishing he didn’t have such a big mouth all the time. 

“No, it’s—it’s ok.Listen, I have to confess something,” Alec said quietly, and Magnus’s mind once again immediately went to the worst case scenarios: Alec already had a boyfriend; he was horribly disfigured; he had a rare disease and was never allowed to leave the house; he was actually a robot.

“I’ve never actually dated anyone,” Alec continued, and Magnus silently told his mind to shut up. “And it’s not because there’s anything wrong with me, I just never take the opportunity, and I never really saw the appeal.But you…I’m glad you accidentally texted me, too.”

Magnus found himself smiling again and they talked late into the night, and agreed to finally meet the next day. 

—-

“Ok. You’ve got this. You can do this. You are amazing, Bane.”

“Is there a reason you’re talking to yourself?” Raphael asked Magnus, who was proceeding to pace the floor of the living room in front of the couch, where Raphael was currently seated, reading a book.

“I’m building myself up for my date with Alec.”

“You’ve never even met the guy.”

“We had a very lengthy and meaningful conversation on the phone last night, thank you very much, and I’ll have you know that I’m more than little infatuated with him. I don’t have to know what someone looks like in order to like them - I see what’s _inside_ ,” which earned him an eye roll from Raphael, “I mean, how do you think all those dating apps and websites work?”

“I’d rather not find out,” Raphael said dryly, without looking up. 

Magnus rolled his own eyes then.“Well I’m leaving soon and could use some words of encouragement.”

“You’re an egotistical cad and you will inevitably fuck it up.”

“You know, one of these days, you’re going to come home and find all of your possessions on the street corner,” Magnus said, crossing his arms.

Raphael only flipped him off, still without looking up, so Magnus stormed out.

—-

“Um, what—what is happening right now?” Magnus asked, and leaned forward in the cab. 

“Traffic,” the cabbie said in an accent that sounded to Magnus like Russian. 

“Yes, I see the traffic.Why is there traffic on a Thursday night? Can’t you go a different way?”

“Nyet.”

Magnus slumped back in the seat. “I knew I should’ve taken an Uber,” he muttered to himself.

“What did you say?’

“I said your driving is just super.”

“That’s it. You. Get out,” the cabbie said, and jerked his thumb toward the door. 

Five minutes of arguing with the cabbie later, and Magnus was standing on the curb, wondering how he was going to get to the bar now.He was already ten minutes late, the traffic was at a standstill, he wasn’t anywhere near a subway entrance, and the bar was too far to walk to.His phone buzzed in his pocket and he saw a message from Alec, who was in much the same predicament.Magnus wondered if it would be worth it to try to walk, but before he could make any kind of decision, the sky decided to open up. 

He quickly ducked under the awning of a nearby building, and the two agreed on another raincheck, and if Magnus hadn’t been supremely pissed off and drenched to the bone, he would’ve laughed at the irony. 

When he finally trudged through his front door and fell onto the couch in a wet heap, Raphael at least had the good sense not to ask him about it.Magnus was surprised he hadn’t ruined his new phone in the rain, and wondered if he were being punished by the universe for getting one by making him miss all of his dates with Alec. 

“Dios, what the hell are you talking about?” Raphael asked, his voice dripping with irritation. He didn’t like to be interrupted while reading. 

Oh jeez. Magnus was doing that thing again where he thought he was thinking something, but he was actually saying it out loud.He sighed, then stood up. 

“Nothing,” he murmured and went to his room. 

—-

They’d talked on the phone again that night, after Magnus had showered and wallowed some more, and agreed to try again the next evening. 

“I’m starting to think maybe the universe doesn’t want us to meet,” Alec laughed on the other end. 

“Oh god, don’t jinx it!” Magnus cried, and dramatically flung an arm over his eyes, and Alec only laughed harder. 

“Sorry,” he added. 

Magnus snuggled down further on his bed, his phone propped against his ear.“We were destined to meet, I’m sure of it,” he said.“Why else would the universe have had me text you? Of all the numbers? I bet you can’t answer that, my skeptical friend.”

“You’re right, I can’t.But I hope that you _are_ right.”

He could hear movement on the other end, and wondered if Alec were in bed too. Luckily Alec kept talking before Magnus could start thinking of inappropriate things he wanted to do to Alec in bed.

“Do you believe in fate?” Alec asked. 

“I don’t know,” Magnus said truthfully.“Fate is kind of being a bitch at the moment.”

That elicited another laugh from Alec, his angelic voice floating through the phone into Magnus’s ear, and Magnus smiled, burying his face in his pillow.Goodness, he wished he could listen to Alec laugh all day.But for now he would settle for it just lulling him to sleep.

—-

This was it.Today was the day.Magnus had said fuck it to cars, and had opted to take the subway to the bar.It wasn’t raining.Alec didn’t have to babysit.Ok, so Magnus had left later than he’d intended, on account of being fashionable, which meant he would hopefully get there right on time, but it would be fine. 

He breathed a sigh of relief. 

But fate wasn’t done with Magnus just yet.Magnus was getting too cocky, it seemed.About halfway to his destination, the train lurched to a stop, and Magnus narrowly avoided colliding with the person standing next to him. A second later, the lights flickered off, drowning the car in darkness, and several people cried out, surprised at the sudden turn of events. 

*No no NO* Magnus thought to himself. *This can’t be happening.I have a bloody date!* 

Maybe the train would start up again soon.He waited.And waited.But five minutes later, the train was as dark and still as it had been five minutes earlier.Not even the conductor had come on the PA to tell them what was wrong, which was just unprofessional, in Magnus’s opinion. 

Pulling his phone out, he tried to text Alec to at least let him know he would be late.That’s when he noticed that he had no service. Not one single bar.He tried to send a text anyway, but the blue loading bar just hung there. 

*Come on, send…SEND*

But it wouldn’t send.And Magnus wanted nothing more than to sink into a chair and put his head in his hands, but he couldn’t even do that.For one thing, all the seats were taken; for another, he risked possibly tripping over someone trying to find an empty one. And there was no _way_ he was sitting on the floor of the train.

He was so stupid.If he had just left earlier, he would’ve been on time and not stuck in a cramped metal tube with a bunch of weird people he didn’t give a shit about, and he suddenly remembered why he hated taking the subway. 

The worst part was that he couldn’t even tell Alec why he was running late.And Alec would think he was being stood up, and he would leave, and never talk to Magnus again, and even though he didn’t know what Alec looked like, he could still imagine the dejected face of someone who sat alone at a bar, knowing their date was never going show.Magnus had definitely been on the receiving end of that situation, and he never wanted Alec to have to experience it. Sweet, shy Alec, who had confided in him that he’d never even been on a date, and now Magnus wasn’t even going to show up to his first and only date and, god, he needed to stop thinking immediately before he had a breakdown in the middle of the subway. 

Before that could happen though, the lights flickered back on, and low and behold, the train started moving.

—-

Magnus all but flew through the door of the bar, and quickly scanned the room for a mop of black hair.Alec had mentioned being tall, but Magnus couldn’t find anyone in the building that fit that description.Making his way up to the bar, he grabbed the bartender’s attention. 

“Maia,” he said, still a little winded from running the whole rest of the way after he’d gotten off the train. “Did you happen to see a guy sitting alone, black hair, blue eyes, kind of tall?”

The bartender Maia, a pretty black woman with a head full of dark curls, thought for a minute.“Yeah, I think I so.He was here for a while and kept checking his phone.He got up a few minutes ago and left the bar, but I didn’t see where he went.”

Magnus felt as if his heart had been ripped out of his chest.He wasn’t even fashionably late, he was obnoxiously late, and Alec had assumed he’d been stood up and left.Magnus climbed onto the bar stool and ground his palms into his eyes.He would never forgive himself for fucking this up.Sure, he could text Alec, and explain what had happened, but Alec probably wouldn’t believe him anyway.Who was Magnus kidding?Why did he ever think this could work? He’d been in his fair share of relationships.Why did he assume one built on text messages and phone calls would be the one that stuck?And Alec had left. So what was he even still doing there?

Magnus dropped his hands to the bar and started to get up, not even bothering to order anything. He was tired of drowning his sorrows in alcohol.He just wanted to go home and sleep.

“Magnus?”

His head snapped up then, and next to him stood a tall, lanky but fit boy with messy black hair, bright blue eyes, and whatever impulse control Magnus had in that moment quickly shot out the door as he all but fell off the bar stool, grabbed Alec’s face, and kissed him. And Alec closed his eyes and kissed him back, his hands resting on Magnus’s waist. The noise in the bar faded to a low hum around them, and Magnus could’ve stayed like that all day. 

“Get a room!”

They pulled away from each other abruptly. 

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have done that,” Magnus said, shaking his head.

“Wow. I certainly hope you _are_ Magnus, otherwise this is awkward,” Alec said, and chuckled. 

“Yes! It’s me. Magnus. I am him,” he nodded.

*Fucking hell, Bane*

“I’m sorry, I don’t usually get this flustered around people,” he added and rubbed his forehead, “so kudos to you, Alexander.”

“I should tell you,” Alec said, trying not to smile at the fact that he was making someone flustered, “I don’t let just anyone call me that.” He ducked his head shyly, and Magnus thought his heart would burst with sunshine and rainbows.Holy gods, this boy was cute. 

“I’m so sorry I’m late, I got stuck on the subway, and then I thought that you left—“

“It’s ok,” Alec cut him off.“I got your text a few minutes ago and then went to the bathroom.”

“How about a drink then?” Magnus suggested, and when Alec smiled, Magnus melted into a puddle on the floor. 

—-

“You know, it’s weird,” Alec said, after Maia had brought their drinks: a beer for Alec, which he took a sip of and immediately made a face, and a martini for Magnus. 

“My whole life I always felt like something was missing.But now I realize it wasn’t something, it was someone. It was you.Is that cheesy? I’m sorry,” Alec buried his face in his hands, and Magnus could see the tips of his ears turning red through his hair. 

Magnus put a hand on Alec’s knee, and Alec’s head snapped up at the contact. 

“It’s not cheesy at all,” Magnus said. 

Alec cleared his throat.“So, since this is technically, like, our third date, maybe we could, I don’t know, get out of here?”

Magnus swallowed and nodded.“I think that would be ok. Yes. We should get out of here.”

—-

They made it back to Magnus’s apartment in record time, and stumbled through the doorway, kissing and clutching at each other. 

“Dios! No no no, absolutely not!” Raphael cried from the couch, practically upending the bowl of popcorn that had been perched on his lap, which he promptly set on the table.Magnus pulled away from Alec, and thrust a handful of bills at his clearly very agitated roommate. 

“Here. Go to a movie or something. My treat,” he said, and spun Raphael toward the door.Raphael ground his heels into the floor and turned back to face him. 

“You can’t just kick me out whenever you want, Bane. This is my apartment too,” he said stubbornly and crossed his arms. 

“Fine, don’t leave then.But I should warn you that I am very loud when I have sex.How about you, Alec? Are you loud when you have sex?”

“We’ll find out,” Alec shrugged, his cheeks turning a slight pink from talking about his currently-non-existent sex life in front of a complete stranger. 

Raphael stood there for a beat, shoved the wadded up bills into his pocket, then turned on his heel and left, slamming the door behind him.Magnus grinned, then crossed the room to Alec, grabbed his hand, and hauled him toward his bedroom.When they got there, he shoved Alec back onto the bed and climbed over him, and he studied Alec’s features - his still bright blue eyes, his full lips, his soft black hair, which Magnus hadn’t been able to resist thoroughly messing up on their way back - then leaned down and kissed him, slowly this time - they had all night after all - and for someone who’d never been on a date before, Alec sure was a great kisser, and Magnus smiled against his mouth. Magnus hadn’t said anything back at the bar, but he shared the same feelings as Alec: he had dated lots of people, but always felt like he was missing, so bad, the one person he was supposed to be with. And he knew then, that it was Alec. So he felt he had to say a prayer to the one thing that had technically made this all possible. But it wasn’t the universe, and not even that bitch, fate.

*Oh Camille, you soul-sucking vampire* he thought. *Thank you*

**Author's Note:**

> Fine me on tumblr @my-archerboy  
> 🖤💙


End file.
